There is lots to talk about and lots of pictures to come. Click read more to enjoy!

Tuesday was the opening night fashion show. You guys already know from the post below that I had a blast and you saw my outfit. Thanks for all of the positive feed back! What I didn’t mention in that post was the talk I had with Marcy Guevara of the Marcy Minute for Skorch Magazine. While I was at the bar placing an order she approached me and after introducing her self she asked if maybe we could talk about the “Skorch scandal ”. Admittedly I was a bit apprehensive because I was not a fan of Marcy’s recent Skorch videos but, I am always up for voicing my opinion and giving anyone the chance to explain, so I agreed.

In case your were living under a virtual rock the “Skorch scandal” began because of does and don’ts video that shows Marcy walking around a mall criticizing the fashion choices of various women and labeling them fashion do’s and don’ts. A lot of viewers felt like the blatant Criticism was very rude. There was also the issue of the “How to Never Look Fat Again” video where Marcy (following the advice of an author) throws out various shoes, accessories, and clothing items because they make her look fat. Of course people apart of the fat acceptance movement thought, “well what’s wrong with being fat?” Finally the video titled “Coming Out of the Closet” where Marcy reviles that she attends Weight Watchers caused a fuss because people felt like she was equating being healthy with losing weight.

I expressed to Marcy that while I did think equating health with weight loss, throwing out shoes because they make you look fat, and promoting ways to make a person not look fat was wrong I was not shocked by Skorch in the least for a few reasons.

1.) Skorch never claimed to be apart of the Fat Acceptance Movement so, it’s not their job to promote that life style. In fact since I have been looking over Skorch randomly over the pass year or so I have always seen weight lost advertisements.

2.) Being a Plus Size Publication does not automatically mean you have to subscribe to fat acceptance notions. There is a market for plus size women that want to know how to look smaller and don’t love them selves enough to accept their weight because we all know there is no real trick to looking smaller, unless you lose weight you will always look fat.

3.) You can be comfortable with your body and want to make a few changes. As comedian Erica Watson said (I’m paraphrasing here), “I love me, but damn thighs rubbing together in the summer time; titties sweating..that’s a lot to deal with” , so we can’t fought someone for going to Weight Watchers (or whatever other method they choose) and wanting to feel more comfortable in their own skin. Most plus size women that lose weight and wind up still being plus size, but just in a smaller body they feel more comfortable with.

Marcy basically responded by saying she agreed and that it was never her intention to offend anyone. She was simply trying to express how to dress you body best for your size and that she knows she should have been more aware of what kinds of things are accepted generally by members of the fat acceptance movement. She also said she posted her Weight Watches video to tell the truth; she didn’t feel right saying, “Hey, I look great and love my self” with out revealing she went to weight watchers.

Wednesday I attended the runway competition where amateur models got the opportunity to strut their stuff in categories like Talent where each contestant had to redesign a basic Full Figure Week T-Shirt to walk the runway in as well as serve up a walk that exhibited their personality. Other categories included causal wear, evening wear, and a final walk. The winner walked away with $1,000, a V.I.P. ticket to the Finale Fashion Show. I enjoyed my self over all. A Girl group called the Glamazons performed as well; their songs are available on itunes here.

On Wednesday I was also interviewed by Marcy for Skorch. I was a little caught off guard so I have a bit of the dear in the head lights look. You can also see that the shirt i'm wearing shows my belly in the video. I come in at around the 1:00 mark.

Over all have to say I enjoyed the discussion however I must say that I do wish that meater topics were discussed because I felt like the answer to nearly every question raised was "love your self and curvy girls unite." I wished things like why certain things that are present in the straight size fashion community are looked down upon in the plus size one. For Example, dos and Don'ts videos, and criticism of a persons style or a designer. I did raise my hand and speak at the discussion. I spoke about the rewards for weight loss being so high that it makes me afraid to loose weight because I feel like if I lose weight I will get lots of praise so its like I wasn't worthy of this praise as a confident fat girl. I also spoke about readers attacking blogs for any little thing they do wrong as well.

After the conference I made some good contacts. I spoke with the founder of Igigi and her publicist and various other people that I hope to get in contact with and work with soon. I was also happy to see that the Washington Post was there covering the discussion.

Here I am posing. I wanted to capture my outfit although it's just a t-shirt and leggings.

Killing it wit the ring pop..lol

Friday before the finale fashion show I headed to Lane Bryant in Manhattan for the Chastity Garner book signing. She was there signing copies of her book A Curvy Girl's Guide to Styleand speaking about the importance of foundation garments. Gemini Magazine was also in attendance. I was there to interview Chasity for Manik Magazine which went pretty well. After that I stayed awhile to mix and mingle.

I had a blast at the Finale show. I enjoyed seeing everyone dressed up and sipping wine in the V.I.P lounge. The various

fashion lines were also amazing. I will be doing a post for each line soon. I mean soon like from Wednesday on. There are pictures of me in my tutu and leopard print shirt I wore to the finale show floating around somewhere but I hated them so